Quidditch Tryouts
by PurpleAngel87
Summary: How did Katie Bell become Chaser for Gryffindor? Slight hints of Katie/ Oliver. One - Shot Disclaimer: Not mine!


Quidditch Try-outs

"Oi! You two! How many times have you been told to carry that crate and not levitate it?"

Two young red heads whipped around at this comment, letting the crate crash to the ground.

"That was your fault, Ollie!" they echoed simultaneously, whilst picking the crate up and casting accusatory glances at their captain, who, to anyone that didn't know him looked furious. To his team – mates and friends however, he merely looked nervous.

Oliver Wood wasn't usually a nervous person. In fact, he was quite the opposite. Described by many as confident, cool and collected, the only time he ever felt nervous was if it was anything to do with Quidditch.

Today, the Gryffindor Quidditch Team were holding try-outs for Chaser and Seeker – the only two positions that weren't currently filled. The Beaters – Fred and George Weasley and the Keeper – Oliver, had been walking down to the Quidditch Pitch where the try-outs were held, when Fred and George had decided that they weren't capable of carrying a crate full of Quidditch equipment between the two of them and had felt the need to use a levitation charm – something Oliver was always warning them against.

Oliver was stressed, he was nervous and he was losing his patience with his beaters.

"All I asked of you two today was that instead of messing about during try-outs you actually act professionally and give me a hand in selecting our new team mates!" Oliver reprimanded whilst taking slight satisfaction in noticing that the Weasley's looked slightly apologetic.

"Sorry Captain," Fred said, whilst taking a glance at the pitch which was getting closer and closer.

"Yeah, sorry Oliver," his twin said, barely audible as they drew up level with the crowd that had surrounded the goal posts.

Oliver threw his bag down on a bench feeling slightly guilty and pulled out the clipboard that Professor McGonagall had given to him.

_Just be fair, _she had said. He stared at the list in front of him hoping it would calm him. If anything, it made it worse. How could he do this? He couldn't possibly captain this team, what on Earth had McGonagall been thinking, giving him the Captain's badge?

He turned to his Chasers, who had been at the pitch setting up for some time now, and thrust the clipboard towards the taller of the two, Angelina Johnson.

"What are you giving that to me for, Wood? You're the captain, go and introduce yourself and start the try-outs. The quicker you get started, the quicker we'll finish and I desperately need that time to do Snape's essay," she snapped at him.

Oliver looked at the clipboard, trying to figure out the best way to phrase his problem whilst trying to ignore the smile Alicia Spinnet was trying to bite back.

"I'm not good enough to be captain, you do it," he managed to mumble whilst still staring at the clipboard.

The next thing he heard was the two girls laughing as though he had been telling them jokes rather than confessing his fears to them. He stared speechless at the pair of them, annoyed that they clearly weren't taking him seriously.

"Oh Oliver," Alicia began once the laughter had subsided. "You _are_ good enough to be captain. You're probably the only person that doesn't think so. The rest of us…well, yeah, we'd rather not have to wake up at the crack of dawn for practices but we still want to win. You're the best chance we have of doing that," she finished, smiling at him.

"I am?" he asked worriedly.

"We wouldn't have anyone else but you, Quidditch Nazi," George chimed in from behind them.

"As much as I would love to join the 'We Love Oliver Wood Club,' I'd like to point out that there are midgets that need torturing…I mean, testing so can we please all get a move on?" Fred said whilst tossing a Cleansweep to George.

Oliver pulled the clipboard back away from Angelina, who was about to mount her Nimbus.

Glancing down at the list of names, Oliver couldn't help a small smile creep onto his face. _Maybe I am_, he thought to himself as he turned to face students who had turned up for try-outs, taking note of a young girl standing at the back who seemed to be completely focused on him. _Maybe I am_.

***

"Hi. My name is Oliver Wood. First of all, I'd like to say thanks to all of you for turning up. We will start off the try-outs today with some basic flying. If you don't have your own broom stick, you can borrow one of the school ones. Okay, split off into groups of five…"

"Midget! You're drooling! Might want to sort yourself out before you get up in the air with lover boy!"

Whilst Oliver had been talking to the group, Fred had managed to work his way through the group unnoticed my his captain, to the short girl at the back that had been staring at Oliver while he had been addressing the group,

"Fred, shut it before I tell Oliver that you're not listening to him!" the short girl hissed back at him. Oliver had sent the first group of five up in the air where Angelina was attempting to lead them in a lap of the pitch.

"And the name's Katie Bell, not midget!" she added whilst watching the group in the air, her fingers crossed in hope that they would mess up.

Fred rolled his eyes. "You wouldn't, Bell. You're not a snitch, everyone knows that. Little Katie Bell would rather do a double detention with Snape than tattle on one of her best buds!" he exclaimed while ruffling her hair.

"Weasley! That took me ages this morning! And no way in hell are you my best bud! I do have standards you know," she said tying her hair up in a ponytail and trying her hardest not to smile.

"Your words wound me, Bell. I thought –"

"Fred! Get up there and take over from Angelina, I need to talk to her." Oliver called.

Katie discreetly shot him a look of annoyance as Fred ran off to get his Cleansweep from George. She had been hoping to weasel a few tips out of Fred, as for the past week he had been refusing - claiming that Oliver had placed him under a spell, and if he did give out any advice to the students preparing themselves for the try-outs, he would turn blue.

Of course, Katie hadn't believed him – she had simply changed her tactics slightly in order to get the information she needed. In any case, it wasn't as though she actually _needed_ help from Fred. Katie was a fairly decent flier and had been told on more than one occasion that she would, without a doubt, whether or not she wanted to, make it onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

It wasn't her flying that she was nervous about. It was Oliver Wood. Three years her senior, it was fair to say that the Quidditch Captain was _quite_ good looking. Katie had first noticed him when her friend, Leanne had pointed him out at the Sorting. Now, Katie definitely wasn't someone who would try out for a Quidditch team, just because she thought the Captain was cute. She was, however, someone who absolutely adored the sport and well, having a cute captain was just an added bonus as far as she was concerned. Although, maybe the word cute didn't do him enough justice. Handsome, stunning, drop dead gorgeous -

He was looking at her. Oliver was looking at her. _The_ Oliver Wood was looking at her. And now, he was talking to her. Katie couldn't believe it. Oliver Wood was actually talking to her.

"Err…are you ok?" Oliver asked, waving a hand in front of Katie's face.

"Yeah…yeah, of course I am," she replied.

"Okay, then do you want to get up in the air? Cause the rest of your group is already up and they're just waiting for you," he said, gesturing towards the sky.

"Oh! Yeah, I'll go join them. Sorry," she managed to mumble as her cheeks turned pink. She joined the group, ignoring the huge grins Fred was throwing her way. Friend or not, if he carried on the way he was, she would feel almost obliged to tell Filch who had let off Dungbombs in his office.

Putting any thoughts of Oliver out from her head, she began her laps of the pitch, following after Fred. The group she had been put in didn't contain great fliers – two of them had managed to crash into the goalpost as they tried to swerve around it on their second lap. She chanced a glance down at Oliver to see if he was watching. He was watching all right – in fact if she trusted her eyesight, he seemed to only be watching her.

Trying her hardest to concentrate, she carried on following Fred, wishing that the team would hurry up and start the specific chaser trials.

***

The team looked disheartened. The Seeker's try-outs had finished long ago – and unsuccessfully. After separating the fliers from non- fliers, there had only been two people left trying out for the position of seeker, neither of which had been able catch the Snitch, let alone dodge Bludgers and other players.

They had moved onto the Chasers after Oliver had announced that they may have to hold trials for seeker again, in the hope that more people would turn up. Aside from Katie, there were three other people who had done well when flying laps of the pitch and during the passing exercise with Angelina and Alicia. Their last task was against Oliver himself. They were given three shots to get a goal past the keeper. The person who scored the highest number of goals got the position of Chaser. _Simple enough _was what Oliver had said after explaining the task. Katie had wanted to grab hold of George's beater bat and hit Oliver over the head with it.

Butterflies had invaded Katie's stomach. She was next. The first two people hadn't managed to score any goals and it seemed the third was going the same way. She glanced at Fred, hoping he could give her some reassurance when she heard a cheer from the stands. Person no. 3 (Katie wasn't going to bother with names when she was this nervous) had just scored a goal on his last attempt. He was in the lead, and both he and Oliver were coming over to where she was standing.

"Well, Jacobs here managed to get one in. If Katie can beat that, the position's hers," Oliver said, a small smile gracing his lips.

He turned to face Katie and hazel eyes met green.

"Ready?" he asked her.

She let out a breath she hadn't even realised she'd been holding. She shook her hair out of her face and caught the wink Fred sent her way. She straightened up and grinned at Oliver, who looked startled at her change in behaviour. He had probably expected her to nervously nod and then follow him.

Well, not Katie Bell.

"I was born ready, mate," she said as confidently as she could manage and began to walk off to grab a Quaffle.

Oliver followed and kicked off once he saw she had the Quaffle and took his position, circling the goal posts. Katie began to make her way towards Oliver. Was it her imagination or was he watching her a little more intently than he should have been?

She slowed down, all the time telling herself to focus. She only had to get two in. She faked a left and just as she threw the Quaffle towards the right goal post, she caught a sight of the crowd that had gathered in the stands. She heard a collective groan from where the rest of team were standing and it was only then that she realised that Oliver had caught the Quaffle.

She had missed and now the only thing that was in her head was the audience below. She couldn't possibly try out in front of all those people! Oliver seemed to guess her hesitation as he passed the Quaffle back to her, but Fred had read his mind and was already trying to get rid of the crowd that had gathered.

Once the crowd had cleared, Katie took charge again, more determined than ever this time. She kept her eyes on Oliver, watching him nearly as intently as he was watching her. She saw her chance and aimed for the middle hoop. Oliver reached for it with an outstretched hand and Katie watched, shocked, as the Quaffle grazed his fingertips and soared through the hoop.

Oliver grinned at her as he tossed the Quaffle to her again. He got into position and threw another grin her way as if to challenge her. This was it. If she could get this one in, she would officially be the new chaser.

Katie had never concentrated this hard on anything before. Her heart was pumping so fast and so loud, she was certain that Oliver, who was at the other end of the pitch, could hear it. She began her way towards him again, but this time she sped up as she neared him and she threw the quaffle when she an opening towards the left goal post. Her heart soared as she realised that Oliver was nowhere near the left goal post, he wouldn't make it there in time! The quaffle sailed through the hoop as the Gryffindor Quidditch Team started cheering loudly.

Oliver looked slightly confused but nonetheless happy as he made his way over to her. The rest of the team had joined them in the air and Katie was sandwiched between Fred and George. Alicia and Angelina were holding onto each other for support as they laughed at the sight of little Katie in between Fred and George.

"Oi! You two! How many times have I told you not to kill members of your own team?" Oliver called out as he joined them in the air.

He grinned at the dumbfounded look that had graced Katie's face.

"Welcome to the team, Katie. Congratulations, that was quite an amazing trial," Oliver said softly once the rest of team had made their way back down, screaming.

"Thanks, Oliver. That means a lot," Katie responded almost shyly, although when asked later, both would deny it.

The rest of the team had made their way back indoors along with all the equipment except the quaffle that was still in Oliver's hands. Katie and Oliver, however, were still hovering in mid – air, their eyes locked, neither of them uncomfortable, but not quite comfortable enough.

She looked at him, a sly grin making its way onto her lips. He raised an eyebrow in question.

"Want to play a little one-on-one, Captain?" she asked.

He let out a laugh. "You know me only too well, Bell," he replied whilst speeding off to take his position at the goal posts.

Katie smiled. Of course she was happy that she was getting to know Oliver, but right now that happiness was overtaken by the fact the she was the new Chaser for Gryffindor. She could squeal about Oliver later. Right now, there was the small matter of beating him at what he did best that she was concerned with.

***


End file.
